Cover photo courtesy of Schweitzer Mountain
When Schweitzer snowcat operator Sabrina started at Ski Santa Fe almost 30 years ago, she had no idea she was stepping into what would become her lifelong career. After working at the New Mexico resort in the rental shop and later as a lift-operator, Sabrina remembers seeing the big snowcats moving around the mountain and thinking, “Yeah, that’s what I want to do.”
Now, after 28 years working at multiple mountains across the country, Sabrina has spent the last nine years running a winch cat at Schweitzer. Her favorite part of the job? Watching the trails change throughout the course of the season. “You’re creating a product for people to ski on,” Sabrina said. Each day is a fresh opportunity to continue to shape the mountain. And even though snowcat operators work behind the scenes, Sabrina said she loves looking at trails from the top of a chair lift and thinking, “I did that.”
The snowcat operators at Schweitzer (many of whom have been there as long or longer than Sabrina) are committed to keeping each other safe as they maintain and groom trails. While each groomer operates their own machine, they work together when conditions are tough, often bailing each other out if their cats get stuck or break down. Even though the job itself requires the operators to work independently, there’s a camaraderie amongst the crew.
“You have to have a passion for this job,” Sabrina told me. With the late hours, seasonal work, and the amount of time spent alone in a snowcat, operators who stick around the longest are those who love the lifestyle. “You can’t make a good product if you don’t have a passion for skiing or boarding,” she explained. Many of the teams she’s worked with over her career were all avid or former skiers or snowboarders. That love of the lifestyle is part of what unites them and helps them excel in their work.
At the end of a shift, Sabrina feels most successful when she knows she’s maintained a trail so others can go and safely ride. Even though she’s been at this for almost 30 years, she admits that every season she learns something new. There’s something about the job—the moose plowing their own trails through deep snow or the fresh tracks of mountain lions, the friendly banter over their two-way radios throughout a long shift, being the first person to watch the sun kiss the mountaintop, going where few people ever get to go, or that freshly laid corduroy—that keeps the operators coming back season after season. (Bri Loveall)
